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To access links, see Steven Clift's blog: http://dowire.org/notes/?p=260 Post: Neighborhoods Online - Trading e-mails at National Night Out in the U.S. Below is a note I passed on to the Minneapolis and St. Paul Issues Forums today. Included is a great article on e-block clubs from the St. Paul Pioneer Press (you'll need to click through to read my quotes). In Minneapolis, we are in the middle of grant planning for a network of neighborhood forums in an attempt to access outreach funding that will allow us to target immigrant communities in particular to connect them with active citizens online in lower income parts of the community (connecting aging white hippies with Somalis in one area for example :-)). Also with our UK efforts, Tim Erickson is working with Knowle West residents in Bristol on a neighborhood issues forum so perhaps we will see some interesting opportunities for the sharing of lessons across the Atlantic. My general thought is that a city-wide Issues Forum combined with active neighborhood forums should be designed to bring in the participation (reading included) of at least one percent of the population - EVERY day. That would be 4,000 people in Minneapolis, up from the 670 directly subscribed to the Issues Forum. While we have a local "digital justice" grant fund we will approach for core funding (something under $30,000) to launch 5 initial target neighborhood forums, perhaps you have ideas of other sources of potential funding that would allow us to expand and support efforts in dozens of neighborhoods across our local network (six communities now). Ideas? E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cheers, Steven Clift E-Democracy.Org Hat On My note with links ... If you'd like to share e-mail addresses with your neighbors, try this form: http://dowire.org/library/nnoform.pdf Does anyone know who we might contact to make this idea a more formal part of NNO in the Twin Cities? What might you do with your neighbors e-mail? Read: http://www.dowire.org/wiki/Networking_neighbors_online Be sure the mention the idea of online neighborhood "life" forums in the planning process (want to start one for your neighborhood, contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ): http://e-democracy.org/nf Also, note the nice Pioneer Press article ... the story from St. Paul's West Side needs to be shared far and wide: http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/news/local/15148532.htm "E-clubs let night-out spirit last all year Neighbors can connect easily, quickly online BY LAURA YUEN Pioneer Press On Tuesday evening, while enjoying chicken wings and bobbing to music at National Night Out gatherings, you can meet new neighbors and shake hands with police officers. And before retreating to your house, you might tell your fellow revelers: "We ought to do this again." But let's be honest: In many cases, "again" is the next National Night Out on Aug. 7, 2007. The Twin Cities area boasts some of the highest participation in the nationwide get-together, with St. Paul and Minneapolis each claiming national first-place awards last year for cities of their size. But the annual resurgence of neighborly spirit can fade when families confront their hectic schedules or start hunkering down for winter. That's why some neighbors have discovered a year-round substitute for over-the-fence conversations: e-mail. ... clip ... Now, block clubs use National Night Out as a chance to sign up new members - and collect their e-mail addresses. St. Paul's West Side is home to about 40 block clubs, and nearly all maintain e-lists for their members. Over e-mail, residents trade notes on suspected drug houses and vow to look out for troubled youth on their blocks, said Jocelyn van Toor, executive director of the West Side Safe Neighborhood Council. "From serious gang problems to finding a lost dog, to me, that's the power of what these online block clubs can do," van Toor said. "It definitely brings them closer." And rather than replacing face-to-face-interaction, e-mails actually encourage it, she said. "Why is it that when you invite people to a block club, they don't show up, but if someone suddenly sends out an e-mail about a problem, you get this huge response?" It's also more convenient and less intrusive than a phone tree, said Martha Varela, who leads the State Street block club on the West Side. "You can sit down at 10 at night and e-mail someone after getting the housework out of the way," she said. "It's more considerate." ... Way to go West Side! Cheers, Steven Clift E-Democracy.Org *** Democracies Online Newswire - http://DoWire.Org *** To comment/for links: http://dowire.org/notes/?p=260 To network: http://groups.dowire.org Submit posts: http://dowire.org/submit Member profile for Steven: http://groups.dowire.org/main/contacts/stevenclift ----------------------------------------- Group home for Newswire - Steven Clift's blog posts by e-mail: http://groups.dowire.org/main/groups/newswire Replies go to members of Newswire - Steven Clift's blog posts by e-mail with all posts on this topic here: http://groups.dowire.org/topic/123242 For digest version or to leave Newswire - Steven Clift's blog posts by e-mail, email [email protected] with "digest on" or "unsubscribe" in the *subject*. Newswire - Steven Clift's blog posts by e-mail is hosted by Democracies Online - http://dowire.org.
